Oil Leak in 90 CRX Si
11-29-2007, 07:06 PM
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Oil Leak in 90 CRX Si
I bought my first last June and I love it, but I have had an oil leak. I took it in to a local garage and let them look at it. They said that I have three leaks.
1) The Valve cover head gasket - I already knew about it and was planning on taking care of it.
2) A crank seal - i believe the mechanic said it was located near the camshaft. I have no clue what I am looking for.
3) The rear main seal - apparently this is my problem. When changing the oil, I have to clean the back side off of the oil pan. This leak causes the most trouble. However, they have to drop the transmission. This is going to cost a lot of money. Together, the shop told me it would cost atleast $1000 to fix all three of them.
I can take care of the valve cover gasket. However, I have no clue where to start for the crank seal, I figured looking up cam shaft diagrams might help? However, my knowledge does not come close to what I need to know to properly drop the transmission and replace the rear main seal. I plan on doing the research and trying to do it myself. As the oil leak is not too bad right now, I am willing to wait til the summer when I graduate and can focus completely on making money and fixing my car. Can someone point me in the right direction, so in the meantime I can atleast try to figure out what all I will need to do to fix it? Call me crazy, but please notice that I did not change my NOOB sign.
1) The Valve cover head gasket - I already knew about it and was planning on taking care of it.
2) A crank seal - i believe the mechanic said it was located near the camshaft. I have no clue what I am looking for.
3) The rear main seal - apparently this is my problem. When changing the oil, I have to clean the back side off of the oil pan. This leak causes the most trouble. However, they have to drop the transmission. This is going to cost a lot of money. Together, the shop told me it would cost atleast $1000 to fix all three of them.
I can take care of the valve cover gasket. However, I have no clue where to start for the crank seal, I figured looking up cam shaft diagrams might help? However, my knowledge does not come close to what I need to know to properly drop the transmission and replace the rear main seal. I plan on doing the research and trying to do it myself. As the oil leak is not too bad right now, I am willing to wait til the summer when I graduate and can focus completely on making money and fixing my car. Can someone point me in the right direction, so in the meantime I can atleast try to figure out what all I will need to do to fix it? Call me crazy, but please notice that I did not change my NOOB sign.
11-30-2007, 05:18 AM
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If you're not familiar with doing either the front or rear main seal, I wouldn't recommend it. It's not entirely difficult but there's alot of possibility to do damage to your engine internally if you're not careful. Do the VCG and pay the place if you want to be safe about it.
11-30-2007, 05:27 AM
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Get second opinions. Oil leaks are usually what mechanics love to rip people off for. I've seen them claim a rear main seal when it was infact just an oil pan seal. Clean off your engine of all oil and start it up, drive it for 5 minutes then get under there and look around. You might be able to spot your own leaks.
BTW, rear main seal should leak from the clutch area more then the back of the oil pan, thats more of and oil pan seal.
BTW, rear main seal should leak from the clutch area more then the back of the oil pan, thats more of and oil pan seal.
11-30-2007, 05:44 AM
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Re: (ludesrv)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ludesrv »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get second opinions. Oil leaks are usually what mechanics love to rip people off for. I've seen them claim a rear main seal when it was infact just an oil pan seal. Clean off your engine of all oil and start it up, drive it for 5 minutes then get under there and look around. You might be able to spot your own leaks.
BTW, rear main seal should leak from the clutch area more then the back of the oil pan, thats more of and oil pan seal.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I kinda agree with this guy as I used to work where a lot of these types work.
However there could be some symantics getting in the way here. What one person calls the back of the engine may not be the same as the next. If by back you mean near where the engine and trans bolt together then rear main is a possiblility, if by back you mean along side of the block adjacent to the firewall, then it's very likely you have an oil pan gasket leak. Typically but not always an oil pan gasket will "work its way out" and you'll see what looks like a rubber flap between the pan and block.
If you have this many leaks it might not be bad to replace the gaskets and seals.
Typically the recomendation is to start from the top down cleaning thourghly each time. Since the oil will fall as it leaks, you can possibly keep from replacing what is not needed.
BTW, rear main seal should leak from the clutch area more then the back of the oil pan, thats more of and oil pan seal.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I kinda agree with this guy as I used to work where a lot of these types work.
However there could be some symantics getting in the way here. What one person calls the back of the engine may not be the same as the next. If by back you mean near where the engine and trans bolt together then rear main is a possiblility, if by back you mean along side of the block adjacent to the firewall, then it's very likely you have an oil pan gasket leak. Typically but not always an oil pan gasket will "work its way out" and you'll see what looks like a rubber flap between the pan and block.
If you have this many leaks it might not be bad to replace the gaskets and seals.
Typically the recomendation is to start from the top down cleaning thourghly each time. Since the oil will fall as it leaks, you can possibly keep from replacing what is not needed.
11-30-2007, 10:33 AM
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yeah... i think for now i am going to leave the rear main seal alone. I am going to fix the valve cover gasket. i am going to buy an oil pressure gauge so i can closely monitor my oil level. i check the dip stick about twice a week. As to where the oil is visible, I thought it was just the oil pan gasket because the oil was coming down the back side of the oil pan. When I do decide to take care of that rear main seal, I will get a second opinion, and depending on whether I have another car at that time I will make the decision on whether I want to to figure this one out my self or not. Thanks for the input
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